The Count who Would be King
by RockSunner
Summary: This is an AU from The End. What if the Baudelaires had listened to Olaf and let him out of the birdcage? Spoilers for The End, Kitlaf.
1. Release

This is an AU from 'The End' based on the premise: "What if the Baudelaires had listened to Olaf and let him out of the birdcage?" All characters belong to Daniel Handler, not me.

**The Count who Would be King**

**Chapter 1**

"Listen to me," said Olaf in a tempting voice, "I can tell you everything you want to know, about your parents, about the V.F.D., everything. Just let me out of this cage."

"Let's go to the other side of the raft where we can't hear him," suggested Violet.

"I'll give you a small sample even before you let me out," wheedled Olaf. "You want to know about the schism? You think that was about the V.F.D. dividing into a noble side and a bad side, don't you?"

"Basically," said Klaus. "I'm sure it wasn't quite that simple, but..."

"It was an argument about what means we should use to change the world. My side favored direct action, fighting fire with fire. The other side wanted to keep things quiet. They favored covert operations, like assassination by poison to get rid of troublemakers," Olaf said darkly.

"No!" cried Sunny. Her two siblings shuddered.

"Think about it... Who supplied your parents with poison darts to kill my parents? Who developed the Medusoid Mycellium in the first place? It was your so-called noble side of the V.F.D."

The Baudelaires felt demoralized, a word which here means that their moral compasses were spinning wildly.

"There's nothing to chose between the two sides of the V.F.D.," said Violet bitterly.

Klaus said, "Maybe we should let him out... The islanders have abandoned us out here to die when the waters rise. Ishmael doesn't care what happens us. The V.F.D. kept us in the dark and sent us on a doomed mission in the hotel. I hate to admit it, but maybe we really need his help."

"That's right," said Olaf, "There's always a need for someone like me. For you, that time is now."

"Don't," said Sunny. "Frying pan to fire." Though Sunny's cooking skills gave her intimate knowledge of frying pans, she was not referring to skillets in this case, but using a phrase which here means, "We'll be going from a bad situation to a worse one," and she was entirely right.

"I know what you mean, Sunny," said Violet. "But things could hardly get any worse. I agree with Klaus." She unlocked the enormous birdcage.

Olaf sprang from the cage and pulled a spherical object from under his flame-colored dress, an object with which he had tried to create the impression of pregnancy. The Baudelaires realized with horror that it was the diving helmet containing Medusoid Mycellium spores.

"I was caught off guard before I could get my weapon out," said Olaf. "It won't happen again. Now you'll do as I say, or else."

"What do you want?" asked Sunny in despair.

"I want to be King of Olaf-Land, of course," said Count Olaf. "And you're going to help me." 


	2. Plotting

**Chapter 2**

"Are you still going to tell us more about our parents?" Klaus asked.

"After I'm King, if I feel like it," said Olaf. "First you have to tell me some things about the island. How many people are there besides the ones we saw?"

"That was everyone," said Violet. "They all came out with Ishmael."

"What weapons do they have?" Olaf asked.

"They don't have any," said Klaus. "Everything that might be dangerous or cause trouble they load on a sledge pulled by wild sheep and they take it to an arboretum on the other side of the island, where nobody lives."

"These fools with be easy to conquer," snickered Olaf. "Do they patrol that side of the island?"

"Nobody ever goes there..." Violet started to say.

"Except -- apple," said Sunny.

"That's right," said Klaus. "Ishmael must go there, since there's no place to get apples on the village side."

"But he must only go there at night, since he pretends to have crippled feet," said Olaf. "Thanks to your letting me out so promptly, it's still afternoon. We have plenty of time to go there and get more weapons. I want my harpoon gun back."

"Why?" asked Violet. "Isn't the Medusoid Mycellium enough of a weapon?"

"I have to kill Ishmael for my throne to be safe," said Olaf. "The mushrooms spores would kill everyone. They're a good threat, but only as a last resort."

"Strangelove," said Sunny.

"Do you have to kill him?" protested Klaus.

"He tried to kill me," said Olaf. "Leaving me in that cage with the waters about to rise was a deathtrap. He's an old enemy of mine and he's too tricky to let live."

The Baudelaires looked at each other glumly. They didn't like helping Olaf commit murder, but there wasn't much they could do about it.

Olaf set off splashing through the shallow water. "Come on, henchmen!" he commanded.

"Wait!" called Klaus. "What about Kit? You're just going to leave her to die?"

Olaf spun around and glared at Klaus with glittering eyes. He seemed ready to strike, and Klaus flinched.

"Who said anything about leaving my girlfriend to die?" Olaf demanded. "Kit's safer here while I conquer the island. Once I'm King I'll come back for her."

"She's not really your girlfriend," Violet said. "You just said she was so that the islanders would take you in along with her."

"Ha!" said Olaf. "You brats think you're so smart, but there's a lot you don't know. I said that so she wouldn't be taken into the clutches of Ishmael without me there to protect her. He's an old enemy of hers, too."

"Really girlfriend?" asked Sunny.

"Once I'm King, and I'll make her my Queen," Olaf said, setting off again.

The Baudelaires followed. their heads spinning with this new information. The Incredibly Deadly Viper swam along behind them. 


	3. Weapons

**Chapter 3**

When Olaf and the Baudelaires stepped ashore at the arboretum they were astonished by the plethora of objects scattered there, a word which here means "so many things that it would take page after page to describe, items from A to Z and on beyond Z."

Olaf didn't pause to look around; he pointed to a sheep-drawn sledge coming down the brae. "Come on, henchfolk! My harpoon-gun is in there!"

They all ran to the sledge. Violet took back her ribbon, Klaus retrieved his commonplace book, and Sunny recovered her whisk. Olaf stared into the empty sledge in dismay.

"That bastard Ishmael kept the harpoon gun! This is going to be harder than I thought. All right then, brats. Find me some weapons!"

The Baudelaires began digging through the plethora.

"Garrote," said Sunny.

"This statuette of a Maltese falcon is very heavy," Klaus said. "You could hit someone over the head with it."

"I could sharpen this propeller blade and make a sword," said Violet.

"No, no, NO!" shouted Olaf. "He has a harpoon. I need a weapon to kill him from a distance. Find me a rifle, or a shotgun, or better yet a bazooka."

But it seemed Ishmael had anticipated possible mutiny and hidden or destroyed items of this sort.

"Ink!" said Sunny, which was not a weapon suggestion. She pointed to the Incredibly Deadly Viper, which was leading the way to a hollow space between the roots of the mansion-sized apple tree that dominated the arboretum.

"I don't trust that snake," Olaf complained, but he followed the Baudelaires into the hollow space and into a large room.

Violet found a light-switch and they saw the room contained a book-restoration workbench, a library, a reading area, and a kitchen.

Olaf began rummaging through the drawers in the kitchen. "There have to be knives here, at least."

"You can throw knives?" Klaus asked.

"Yes, but they have to be heavy and well-balanced," Olaf said. "These are no good."

"I could attach one to a pole and make a throwing-spear," said Violet.

She found a broom in the kitchen with name "Firebolt" on its handle, and in a few minutes she had removed the bristle part and tied on a knife.

Olaf weighed the spear in his hands. "It seems well-balanced. Now to test it!"

With that, he flung the spear across the room at Ink. striking it in the head. The snake thrashed for a few moments and then went still.

"The spear will do," said Olaf with satisfaction.

"Ink!" cried Sunny.

"How could you? Ink was harmless," said Violet.

"That snake has caused me nothing but trouble," muttered Olaf.

Olaf sat down in a soft reading chair.

"I'm hungry! Bring me roast beef and wine," Olaf demanded.

Sunny tearfully prepared a leg of lamb she found in the cooler. Instead of wine, she poured the remainder of the coconut cordial from their shell-flasks into a glass.

"This isn't roast beef and wine!" Olaf complained, but he ate and drank it anyway.

All this had taken enough time that darkness was beginning to fall. Olaf stood up from his meal.

"I'm going to ambush Ishmael when he comes over the hill," Olaf said. "It's my best chance to catch him alone."

After he left, Sunny prepared a simple meal for her siblings. They discussed the situation as they ate.

"This island could have been a wonderful place to live," said Violet. "All these things Ishmael kept for himself we could use for inventions and research."

"And cooking," said Sunny.

"But with Olaf running things..." said Klaus.

"I wish we could have this without Olaf," said Violet.

"We don't have that option," said Klaus. "If Ishmael wins he'll kick us off again, or worse."

"Unless both kill each other," said Sunny.

Her wish was not to be granted. Olaf returned, his spear-tip bright red.

"The fool didn't even have the harpoon gun with him. King Ishmael is dead. Long live King Olaf of Olaf-Land."


	4. Equivocation

**Chapter 4  
**

"Ha! Now all I have to do is tell those other fools that I'm King," said Olaf.

Violet said, "Wait! You can't just rush over there and tell them you killed Ishmael and you're taking over."

"Why not?" asked Olaf.

"The harpoon gun is still missing. Someone over there has it," said Violet.

"They won't dare to shoot because I have the Medusoid Mycellium," said Olaf.

"They might shoot first before you told them," said Klaus.

"All right, we'll trick them into giving up the gun," said Olaf.

"How?" asked Sunny.

"Let me do the talking. If they ask you a question, don't contradict me."

The four walked over the brae to the islanders' encampment. As they came closer they heard raised voices and the word "mutiny" repeated several times, which caused Olaf to smile. They found all the colonists except Erewhon and Finn gathered in Ishmael's enormous tent.

"What are you doing here?" challenged Mr. Pitcairn. "You're supposed to be in exile."

Olaf cleared his throat. "Ishmael came out to us a short time ago. He realized many people were unhappy with his decisions and some were about to mutiny. He reconsidered and let me out of the cage and let all of us come here."

"We weren't unhappy about you, just the Baudelaires," said Mrs. Caliban.

"How did Ishmael get out to you?" Professor Fletcher asked skeptically. "He couldn't drive the sheep-sledge through the water without help."

"He can walk now," said Olaf. "The healing clay has completely cured his feet."

"I don't believe you," said Friday. "Is it true, Klaus?"

Klaus didn't want to lie to Friday, but he realized their lives might depend on not contradicting Olaf. He decided to equivocate, a word which here means "lie by telling the truth in a way which could be misunderstood."

Klaus said "With my own eyes I saw proof Ishmael could walk."

"Where is Ishmael now? Why didn't he come back with you?" asked Weyden.

"Out walking on the coastal shelf, thinking about resigning as facilitator," said Olaf.

"Exactly what Erewhon wanted," said Madame Nordroff. "I don't like it; Ishmael has been a good facilitator."

"What's that helmet you're carrying?" asked Ariel.

"My favorite diving helmet," said Olaf. "Ishmael decided to stop asking people to give up things they really want to keep. He gave Violet back her hair ribbon, Klaus his notebook, and Sunny her whisk, too."

"Is that true, Violet?" asked Mrs. Caliban.

Violet tried more equivocation. "Ishmael won't stop anyone from keeping things they want any more."

A debate broke out between those who thought the new policy would make their lives more complicated and dangerous and those who thought it would make them less boring.

Olaf cut in. "There is one thing Ishmael didn't want to keep any more -- the harpoon gun. He said it was unnecessary and dangerous."

"That went into the sledge," said Calypso. "Ishmael would never keep something like that around."

"No, he told us he kept it," Olaf insisted.

"What about that, Sunny? Is that true?" asked Friday.

Sunny also equivocated. "Harpoon not in sledge."

"He gave it to someone to keep secretly, just in case," Olaf guessed. "I won't embarrass them by revealing their name, but if they want to come forward and give up the harpoon gun I know it would please Ishmael."

The boy Omeros produced the gun from behind his back. "All right, here it is..."

Just then, Erewhon and Finn returned. They were carrying someone chaired in their arms, holding a half-coconut-shell soup bowl.

"Olaf and the Baudelaires weren't there," said Erewhon. "But we figured Olaf's girlfriend should know something about weapons and plots, so we gave her soup and brought her back to help the mutiny."

"Kit!" said Olaf.

"Olaf!" said Kit. "I woke up late this afternoon and all of you were gone. These kind islanders rescued me from my Vaporetto of Favorite Detritus."

"This afternoon?" asked Rabbi Bligh. "Olaf said Ishmael came to see you a just little while ago."

"No, I never saw Ishmael," contradicted Kit.

"Olaf lied!" Omeros cried, and raised the harpoon gun to shoot Olaf.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Kit, demonstrating the lightening reflexes she had used to spin her taxi off the road and through a hedge, flung her soup-bowl at Omeros to disrupt his aim. The harpoon just missed Olaf and his helmet of mushroom spores and buried itself in the beach.

"All right, no more Mr. Nice King," said Olaf. "I killed Ishmael and I'm taking over as King of Olaf-Land. This helmet contains poisonous mushroom spores. You'll do what I say or I'll break it open and you'll all die in an hour."

Friday looked at the Baudelaires in horror. "You... you helped him? You lied to us?"

"It was only equivocation," Klaus tried to explain, but the Baudelaires could tell they had lost their only real friend on the island for good.


	5. Queen Kit

**Chapter 5**

"I'm sorry to hear you're resorting to treachery and helping Count Olaf with his schemes," Kit told the Baudelaires.

"Kettle black," said Sunny.

"Olaf told us about the V.F.D.," said Klaus.

"Our side does terrible things too, like poisoning people!" said Violet

"But we have noble intentions! We want to make the world a quiet and peaceful place," said Kit.

"That's right," said Mrs. Caliban. "Our road is paved with good intentions."

"Our side got smart," said Olaf. "We used to say the ends justified the means. Then we figured out that bad means made noble ends unlikely. We're hooked on bad means, so why not forget the noble stuff and go for all we can get?"

"That makes sense to me," said Ariel.

"We're had this argument a hundred times," said Kit. "We always end up fighting."

"But I love how we make up," Olaf said with a wolfish grin. "Look, the V.F.D. is practically wiped out, all but us. We have a chance to make a new start, without the schism."

"I know you're too cynical to really believe that will work," said Kit.

"And I know you're too idealistic not to hope for it," said Olaf. "Someday you'll come around to my way of thinking."

"Someday you'll come around to mine," said Kit.

"Deep down, you know I won't... and you love me anyway. And deep down I know you won't, and I love you anyway," said Olaf.

"Opposites attract," said Kit, giving him a passionate look.

"Hey," said Mr. Pitcairn, "What about us? You just told us you're taking over. How are you going to run things? A lot of us may choose to leave in the morning. Tomorrow's Decision Day, you know."

"Nobody is leaving unless I say so," said Olaf. "In fact, I'm leaving myself, along with Kit and the Baudelaires. You can do whatever you want until I come back. Then I'll expect you to build a giant statue of me, fit for the King of Olaf-Land."

"What? You're leaving right after taking over? Why?" asked Violet.

"I have an important financial transaction to see to on land first," said Olaf.

"Stealing our fortune, you mean," said Klaus.

"You assume I'm coming with you," said Kit. "I'm not."

"Don't try to talk me out of the Baudelaire fortune," said Olaf. "I'm not giving it up even for you. They owe it to me after what their parents did to mine."

"I hate that you're stealing from them, but that's not the reason," said Kit. "My baby will probably come today and I'm not about to have it on an open boat."

"I'll miss you, but I'll see you in a year, after I've gotten the fortune and a big luxury car," said Olaf.

"I may not be alive in a year, if you run off and leave a power vacuum," warned Kit. "The factions will fight among themselves and my baby and I will be caught in the crossfire."

"Be my Queen, Kit?" Olaf asked. "Then you can hold power for me while I'm gone."

"I'll be too weak from giving birth," said Kit. "You have to decide: do you want love and power, or money?"

"Give me a minute," said Olaf. "I have to think."

Olaf paced around, muttering to himself. "All right," he said finally, "I'll take a year here to consolidate my power, then go get the Baudelaire fortune."

"I'm glad you made that decision. My baby needs a father, and you're the one" said Kit. "I only get engaged Dewey to give the child a more respectable name."

"Dewey is dead," said Olaf. "The Baudelaires killed him."

Kit gave a little gasp and stared at the children. 

"It was an accident," said Violet. "We had good intentions."

"I never intended to have kids," said Olaf. "'Get out as quickly as you can, and don't have any kids yourself' is my motto."

"Too late, now," said Kit softly.

"But if this is really my kid, I have a say in naming him, right? Olaf Junior!"

"I don't think so. And what if it's a girl?" asked Kit.

"A girl? Ummm... Olafette!"

"Never! What about my family tradition of naming a child after someone who has died, like Bertrand or Beatrice?"

"Never! They killed my parents. But we could use my parent's names: Mort or Natasha."

"I could live with that. I didn't know who the dart were for. I just delivered them."

"That's worse, but I forgive you, Kit."

"Queen Kit to you," said Kit. "I'll make it my duty to check your unbalanced greed for power."

"Queen Kit," agreed Olaf happily. "You're welcome to try."


	6. Reigning

**Chapter 6**

And so began the reign of King Olaf the Handsome. King Olaf, Queen Kit, and Princess Natasha lived on the arboretum side in the room under the apple tree. Natasha was as brilliant as Sunny, but in danger of becoming as spoiled as Carmelita because of Olaf's demand that she be treated like a princess and be given everything she wanted.

Life for most of the islanders continued the same as it had been under Ishmael -- because Olaf confiscated all the good stuff for himself. The Baudelaires, however, were all put to work on projects that used their talents, or, in their opinion, miserably misused them.

Sunny was made the Royal Cook to supply Olaf and the royal family with gourmet meals. She also had to keep Olaf supplied with drinks, which was a never-ending task.

Violet's task as Royal Sculptor was a 50-foot sculpture of Olaf's head (Olaf had wanted 100-foot sculpture of his whole self, but Kit had argued him down). Violet had to cart all sorts of metal junk over the brae to the village side. There she had to wire it together to look like Olaf. She had to keep re-doing parts he said weren't handsome enough.

Klaus, as Royal Historian, was to write the glorious history of Olaf's life and crimes. Klaus learned a great deal from researching in 'The Series of Unfortunate Events' along with Olaf's own tales of dark adventures. Kit gave her own spin and corrections; it was hard to be sure of the truth. All Olaf cared about was that the account made him look good.

"History is written by the victors," Olaf would say.

Through Klaus' research Olaf learned of the tunnel the Baudelaire parents had started to Anwhistle Aquatics. This excited Olaf's interest because it would give him a way to come and go without having to wait for the yearly flood. He wanted all the islanders working on it twenty-four hours a day, but Kit arranged more reasonable shifts.

It took ten months, but at last the tunnel was nearly finished. The next day they would break through to the chamber beneath Anwhistle Aquatics.

"It's good I didn't let them destroy the boat on Decision Day," Olaf said. "Tomorrow I'll take the Baudelaires down the tunnel and they'll carry the boat up to the surface. We'll go take care of that financial transaction."

"You promised to wait a full year," objected Kit.

"You're strong enough now to rule these sheep while I'm gone," said Olaf. "I won't be long."

Olaf drank extra-heavily that night to celebrate the fortune that soon would be his. He fell asleep at the table, and Natasha had gone to bed early. The Baudelaires took the opportunity to ask Kit some questions.

"Do you know what happened to the Quagmires?" Violet asked.

Kit told them about her escape by Vaporetto of Favorite Detritus and about how she had seen the Quagmires and the others swallowed up by The Great Unknown.

"What can you tell us about The Great Unknown?" asked Klaus.

"Almost nothing," said Kit. "No-one who has been swallowed by it has ever returned to tell the tale."

"So they're dead. Is that what you're telling us?" asked Violet.

"Not necessarily," said Kit. "Some who were nearly swallowed saw a glimpse of another world within The Great Unknown."

The Baudelaires fell silent as they digested this information.

Sunny spoke up on a new subject. "How can he get our fortune?"

"I've been wondering the same thing," said Violet. "I'm still not of age. He can't pull the Marvelous Marriage trick now that he's married you."

"A few times he told us he only needed one of us to get the fortune," said Klaus. "But he never said how."

"Olaf has never explained to me, either," said Kit. "There's one idea... I hope it isn't right."

"What is it?" the children asked together.

"I was a witness to the will and there's an escape clause," said Kit. "If Violet dies before she's of age, the fortune comes to Klaus when he's of age. But if both Violet and Klaus die before they come of age, the guardian gets control of the fortune immediately to care for Sunny. They thought it was too much of a financial hardship for the guardian to have to wait until Sunny came of age."

"Oh-oh," said Sunny.

"In the Village of Fowl Devotees, Olaf said it didn't matter which of us survived," said Klaus. "He left the decision to us."

"Maybe that was just to make us suffer," said Violet. "If we didn't choose Sunny he could have overridden us."

"He chose the two of us at the Carnival lion pit," said Klaus. "He also tried to kill both of us when he unhitched the trailer in the mountains."

"We need a plan," said Sunny. 


	7. Confrontation

**Chapter 7**

Early the next morning King Olaf summoned the three Baudelaires.

"You've been in the Gorgonian Grotto before," Olaf said. "Tell me more about it."

"The Medusoid Mycellium has a daily waxing and waning cycle," Klaus explained. "The safest time to cross through the cave is when they are completely on the wane. The last time were there, that was at 7:30AM."

"Let's go," said Olaf. "It will take us nearly an hour to walk the tunnel and the timing will be perfect."

The Decision Day boat had already been moved into the tunnel. "Pick it up and get moving," Olaf commanded.

Olaf led the way, carrying a torch. He walked briskly and the children were hard-pressed to keep up while carrying the heavy boat. They were out of breath when they reached the end of the tunnel. Shovels and picks leaned against the wall.

"Just a little more digging and we'll break through to the Grotto," said Olaf.

"This is still extremely dangerous," objected Violet. "If we breathe in one spore..."

"I found a box of surgical masks," said Olaf. "Here."

He pulled two plastic bags from his pocket. In one was a large mask and a small mask. He opened this bag, gave the small mask to Sunny, and put on the large mask himself. He tossed the other bag, containing two medium-sized masks, to Violet and Klaus.

They broke through into the Grotto and the Baudelaires carried the boat across the waned mushroom field. Olaf directed them to a concealed door that lead to a vertical shaft with a ladder fastened to one wall.

"This will lead to the surface," he told them. "Carry the boat up, and be quick about it."

Olaf rushed up the ladder first. The Baudelaires found it wasn't easy to climb the ladder while carrying the heavy boat, but they managed. From the top of the shaft, Olaf heard the two older Baudelaires begin to cough and wheeze, and he smiled to himself.

The children found themselves in the burnt-out ruins of a huge aquatic research and rhetorical center. They looked around curiously.

"Don't waste time -- launch the boat!" yelled Olaf.

They pushed off an Violet and Klaus began to row. Once they were out at sea Olaf told them to discard the used masks. He seemed to be in a very good mood.

"In a few hours your fortune will be mine," he boasted. "I feel so happy that I'll do one of my favorite laughs.. Heh heh 'heritance hah hack kack kack."

The laugh became a hacking cough. Olaf narrowed his eyes at the Baudelaires. None of them were coughing anymore.

"What have you done? You tricked me somehow, didn't you?"

"We found those two plastic bags with the masks in your room last night," said Violet. "We thought you might have contaminated the masks for Klaus and me with Medusoid Mycellium spores from your diving helmet."

"If we died that way, Sunny wouldn't be able to prove it wasn't an accident," said Klaus.

"All we did was switch the contents of the bags," said Violet.

"If not poisoned no harm done," said Sunny.

"But that would have contaminated all the masks," said Olaf. "Why weren't you poisoned too?"

"I found out from my research that the apple tree is a horseradish hybrid," said Klaus. "The apples cure Medusoid Mycellium poisoning. I never told you about it because you depended on the threat of the mushrooms to stay in power. It was the ace up our sleeves."

"Apples up our sleeves," said Sunny. "Ate when we climbed shaft."

"Give me one of those apples," Olaf croaked, lunging at them.

Klaus and Violet were ready for him. They swung their oars at Olaf and knocked him overboard. Normally Olaf was a good swimmer, but he was weakened by the poisonous mushrooms. He couldn't keep up as the Baudelaires rowed away from him.

"Murderers, poisoners just like your parents!" Olaf yelled, then started coughing again. Soon he sank beneath the waves.

The children rowed back to Anwhistle Aquatics and left a note:

"Dear Kit,

We were right. We're sorry but we had to kill him in self-defense.

Now we're going to look for The Great Unknown and rejoin our friends if we can. Goodbye and thank you for all your help.

Sincerely,  
Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire"

I found that note in the process of my research for my last book, '_The End'_. I found the tunnel and followed it back to the island, after taking appropriate horseradish precautions. The island is prospering under Kit's leadership and becoming once again a fine place for a shipwrecked person to get a hot bath and oysters Rockefeller.

The islanders pushed over the unfinished sculpture of King Olaf's head. Beside it, Kit placed a plaque with this quotation from a famous V.F.D. member:

_"...Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown  
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command  
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read  
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,  
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.  
And on the pedestal these words appear:  
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:  
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"  
Nothing beside remains..._

Natasha is no longer being spoiled and she is becoming a fine young woman. In one thing I am grateful to Olaf, that my niece bears the name she does and not the name Kit originally wanted, a name which would have brought up painful memories for me: Beatrice. 


End file.
